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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. D. A. CARPENTER.-

BUTTON HOPPER.

No. 562,572. Patented June 23, 1896..

2 SheetsSheet 2. D. A. CARPENTER.

(No Model.)

BUTTON HOPPER.

No. 562,572. Patented June 23, 1896.-

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' QM J QIVMW dwmd i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

DANIEL A. CARPENTER, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

BUTTON-HOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 562,572, dated June 23, 1896.

ApplicationfiledMarol124,18Q6. Serial No. 584,621. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL A. CARPENTER, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Button-Hoppers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for attaching buttons to garments; and the invention consists of a rotary buttonhopper constructed as herein described and claimed.

On the accompanying sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the hopper applied to a machine; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a vertical section of the hopper in the plane a: a, Fig. 2; and Fig. 4, a plan of the interior of the hopper.

. Similar reference-numerals designate like parts in the different views.

The object of this invention is to produce a button-hopper capable of feeding buttons such as are commonly attached to overalls and trousers and devoid of all edges or surfaces between which any of the buttons might be jammed by. the movement of one of the parts of the hopper past the end of the chute into which the buttons are discharged.

The drawings represent the hopper applied to a machine that is fully described in Letters Patent No. 556,002, dated March 10, 1896. The frame of the machine is mounted on the column 1 and platform 11. Itis a casting 2, composed of the upright part 20 and other parts not wholly shown herein. To the frame is pivoted a lever 3, which is connected by a link with a plunger 4, held in a guide in the frame. Abutton-holder havinga slotted foot 15 is pivoted by its sides 16 to the frame at 17, and from this button-holder to the lever 3 extends a rod 18, whereby the foot of the holder is withdrawn from the path of the plunger when the plunger moves downward. The buttons are fed into this holder from the button-hopper.

The button-hopper 5 is mounted on a support 12, bolted on the platform 11. The bottom of this hopper is composed of a central block or base 50 and an annular part 51. The block 50 is fastened to the support 12.

hopper to the inner edge of that part. height of these ribs is a little greater than the The upper surface of the annular part slopes from the outer to the inner edge, as shown in Fig. 3, and on this part is a short hub 52, having ratchet-teeth 53 around it.

As will be seen by reference to Figs. 3 and 4, the block 50 fits in the opening in the part 51 and extends underneath the hub 52, and the top of theblock projects a little above the inner edge of the upper surface of the part 51, except that the portion of the surface of the block that is between the curved line 54 and and the part 51 is flush with or below the in nor edge of the surface of the annular part.

Between the lines 54 and 55 the surface of the block slopes from the surface plane above the line 54: to that below the line 55. A channel 56 extends from the line 54 downward through the block under the hub 52 of the part 51. The bed and lower part of this channel conform to the top, and the upper part conforms to the hub, of the buttons, and the bed ofthe channel is in a plane that cuts the annular part in and on both sides of a straight line drawn across the annular part above the channel, midway between and parallel to the prolonged sides of the channel. On the part 51 are ribs 57, which extend from the outer edge of the part 51 toward the center of the The thickness of the flange of the buttons, and they form, with the surface of the part 51 and the body of the hopper, shallow pockets, in each of which one or two buttons 6 may lie face downward, as represented in Fig. 4..

The body 58 of the hopper is fastened to the part 51, and on the body is a removable cover 59, having an opening 60in the center. Abar 61 extends across this opening and is fastened to the cover on opposite sides thereof, as shown in Fig. 2. A bow-spring 62 bears at one end upon this bar and at the other end against. the under side of the support 12 or block 50.

-A bar 63, on one end of which is a pawl 64,

is pivoted on the back of the hopper to a stationary hub 65, and'to the other end of this bar is pivoted alink 66, that extends downward and is pivoted at its lower end to the lever 3 of the machine. The pawl 54 is nornially held by a spring 67 in engagement with the ratchet-teeth 53. A chute 68 is fastened at its upper end to the block 50, and near its lower end to the frame of the machine by means of a bracket 69, the chute being curved, as appears by Fig. 1. The channel of this chute forms a continuation of the channel 56 in the block 50. The lower end of this chute rests close to and just above the foot 15 of the button-holder when the holder is in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1.

Near the lower end of the chute is a sepa- I rating device whereby only one button at a time is allowed to descend into the buttonholder. This device consists of a plate 70, pivoted to the chute and having at its inner end two spurs 71, a slotted link 72, pivoted on the outer end of the plate 70, and a rod 73, fastened to the lever 3 and extending through the slot in the link 7 2.

During the operation. of the machine an intermittent motion is imparted to the rotary part of the hopper 5 by the lever '3 acting through the rod 66, the bar 63, and the pawl 64 upon the ratchet-teeth 53, the spring 62 keeping that part of the hopper in its seat on the block 50. Buttons are carried upward in the pockets from the mass of buttons that lies in the lower part of the hopper, the faces of the buttons in the pockets being downward and their flanges resting against the ribs 57, and since each rib inclines downward toward the center of the hopper, after it passes above a horizontal line drawn across the center of the block 50, the button in the pocket above the rib, or the inner button if the pocket contains two, slides down against the side of the block 50, the outer button, if there are two, being behind and in contact with the inner button, and when the but-tons in the pockets are carried beyond the upper end of the line 54, then they slide out of the pockets upon the face of the block 50 and either enter the channel 56 or return to the mass of buttons in the lower part of the hopper. Each button that enters the channel 56 passes down through the block into the chute 6S and down the chute until it comes in contact with the separating device or with the topmost button in the chute.

If a button, after passing out of a pocket at the upper end of the line 54, instead of entering the channel 56 lodges in the entrance of the channel, it is soon dislodged by the button or buttons behind it, and then either passes into the channel or down to the lower part of the hopper, and under no circum stances is a button liable to be jammed between the rotating part of the hopper and the entrance of the channel, or between any surfaces whatever.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A hopper comprising a fixed block constituting the central portion of the bottom of the hopper, an annular part mounted on the block and adapted to rotate thereon, and the body 58, the block containing a channel extending under the annular part, and the annular part having pockets upon it, substantially as described.

2. A hopper comprising a fixed block constituting the central portion of the bottom of the hopper, an annular part mounted on the block and adapted to rotate thereon, the body 58, and means whereby the body and annular part are held on the block, the block containing a channel extending under the annular part, and the annular part having pockets upon it, substantially as described.

3. A hopper comprising a fixed block constituting the central portion of the bottom of the hopper, an annular part 51, having a hub 52 and ratchet-teeth 53, mounted on the block and adapted to rotate thereon, the block containing a channel extending under the hub 52 of the annular part, and the annular part having pockets upon it, substantially as described.

4:. A hopper comprising a fixed block, an annular part 51 mounted on the block and adapted to rotate thereon, and the body 58, the upper surface of the block on one side of the center projecting above the plane of the inner edge of the upper surface of the annular part, and being on one side even with or below that plane, and containing a channel extending under the part of the surface of the block that projects above said plane and under the annular part, and the annular part having ribs or partitions extending across it and dividing the space between the block and body 58 into pockets, substantially as described.

5. A hopper comprising the block 50, the annular part 51, and the body 58, the upper surface of the block below the lines 54 and 55 extending above the plane of the inner edge of the upper surface of the annular part, and the surface of the block above the line 5% being flush with or below that plane, the block containing a channel 56 extending through the block from the line 54: and under the annular part, and the annular part having ribs 57 substantially as described.

6. A hopper comprising the block 50, the annular part 51 having a hub 52 and ratchetteeth 53, and the body 58, the surface of the block below the lines 54: and 55 extending above the plane of the inner edge of the upper surface of the annular part, and the surface of the block above the line 54: being flush with or below that plane, the block containing a channel 56 extending through the block from the line 54 under the hub 52 of the annular part, and the annular part having ribs 57, substan- I tially as described.

DANIEL A. CARPENTER. In presence of- Cats. COLEMAN MILLER, HORACE C. SKELLY. 

